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She Was an Acrobat's Daughter
She Was an Acrobat's Daughter is an animated short in the Merrie Melodies series, produced by Vitaphone Productions and released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. on April 10, 1937. This animated short was directed by Isadore Freleng and produced by Leon Schlesinger. Plot The film show begins with a newsreel called "Goofy-Tone News", produced by "Warmer Bros.". The production company of the newsreel is a pun on Warner Bros., while the newsreel itself parodies Movietone News. The slogan of Movietone, Sees All, Hears All, Knows All is parodied as Sees All - Knows Nothing. Presenter "Dole Promise" (Lowell Thomas) has trouble recalling his own name, and someone whispers it to him. The first news item is that the United States are involved in a shipbuilding race and have just constructed the longest ocean liner. The depicted ship is huge and actually covers part of the Atlantic Ocean. Its "journeys" between London and New York City actually require only the slightest of movements. The next news item features "Heddie Camphor" (Eddie Cantor) interviewing Little Oscar, a long-lost insect. Oscar rants in a high-pitched voice and the interviewer translates for the audience: Oscar would rather stay lost. As the newsreel continues, the camera's attention shifts to the audience. An usher points an empty seat to a late-arriving gentleman. But the new viewer discovers that his seat only allows him to view the screen from a strange angle. He moves himself to a new seat, to no better results. Having nowhere else to go, the viewer keeps his seat and sulks in frustration. Elsewhere, a hippo has to leave his seat for some reason. He passes through a row of seats on his way to the corridor, pressing on a lot of fellow viewers while asking them to pardon him. On screen, another newsreel begins Nit-Wit News, featuring "Who Dehr" (Lew Lehr). His news story takes place in the town of Boondoggle, Missouri, where the bite of a mad dog has had strange effects on the population. This segment depicts townspeople acting like dogs, the mayor fighting with an actual dog over a bone, and matronly socialite Mrs. Ben Astorville acting as a pampered dog. Albeit one still served by a butler. As Dehr concludes his report, he is himself bitten by one of the affected townspeople. Back in the theater, the hippo returns to his seat, pressing on his fellow viewers again. Following the newsreels, the next part of the program is a sing-along. Maestro "Stickoutski" (Leopold Stokowski) plays his "fertilizer" (Wurlitzer pipe organ), while lyrics appear on screen for the audience to follow in singing. The lyrics are accompanied by illustrations of their content on the screen. The song of the day is "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter". In a gag, an irrelevant sign is depicted among the lyrics, and the audience sings its content: "please do not spit on the floor". Afterward, the main feature is presented, with a parody of the Leo the Lion (MGM) logo who crows like a rooster instead of roaring at the start. A parody of The Petrified Forest (1936) entitled The Petrified Florist is then shown featuring Bette Savis (Bette Davis) and Lester Coward (Leslie Howard), with rather long cast credits (the hero (Lester Coward), the shero (Bette Savis), rich man (John P Sockefeller), poor man (John Dough), beggar man (Kismet), thief (Oph Bagdad), doctor (Jekyll), lawyer (Ima Shyster), then repeats: poor man, beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer several times). The film opens with "Coward" attempting to secure transportation via hitchhiking while reading a book. Meanwhile, in the theater, a donkey member of the audience chooses this moment to start acting as a hawker. He starts advertising various food items that he is selling in a loud voice. Resulting in the audience kicking him out of the building. On screen, Howard makes his way to a desert inn and introduces himself to the waitress, Davis. When she figures him for a poet, Howard attempts to recite something. He gives a mangled rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb (1830). In the theater, a baby goose is seated next to his father and keeps annoying the parent through constantly speaking. Either asking questions about the film they are viewing, asking for a drink of water, or asking to see a cartoon. The constant speaking annoys other audience members, who try to silence the child by intimidation. When the father protests, he is punched in the face. He, in turn, attempts to slap his annoying kid, who runs away. The unsupervised child makes its way to the projection room and starts toying with the movie projector. He/she accidentally speed up the film, then has it going backward. Realizing the damage it has caused, the child attempts to fix the projector. But it is soon caught within the machine. The film ends with the child covered in film reels and struggling to break free. Gallery Category:1937 films Category:1937 shorts Category:1937 Category:1930s films Category:1930s shorts Category:1930s Category:Merrie Melodies Category:Merrie Melodies shorts Category:Looney Tunes Category:Looney Tunes shorts